Eveny Cheval just moved back to Louisiana after spending her childhood in New York with her aunt Bea. Eveny hasn’t seen her hometown since her mother’s suicide fourteen years ago, and her memories couldn’t have prepared her for what she encounters. Because pristine, perfectly manicured Carrefour has a dark side full of intrigue, betrayal, and lies—and Eveny quickly finds herself at the center of it all.

Enter Peregrine Marceau, Chloe St. Pierre, and their group of rich, sexy friends known as the Dolls. From sipping champagne at lunch to hooking up with the hottest boys, Peregrine and Chloe have everything—including an explanation for what’s going on in Carrefour. And Eveny doesn’t trust them one bit.

But after murder strikes and Eveny discovers that everything she believes about herself, her family, and her life is a lie, she must turn to the Dolls for answers. Something’s wrong in paradise, and it’s up to Eveny, Chloe, and Peregrine to save Carrefour and make it right. (Goodreads)

Inspired by Nikki @ There Were Books Involved, instead of reviewing a book I have chosen to DNF, I will do something more along the lines of a DNF Discussion. Nikki's feature, DNF Q&A, "answers to a few pertinent questions in order to explain what made me ultimately set the book aside." I love how Nikki approached this rare occurrence with a Q&A rather than a full out review and, with her blessing, adopted it as my go-to method for DNFs.

So, you added The Dolls to your DNF pile. How much of it did you read - did you really give it a chance?

I did! I read 53% of the novel and very much enjoyed the beginning. I normally don't go this far into books that end up getting a DNF rating, but having enjoyed the beginning so much I wanted to keep going in hopes that it would pick back up. It unfortunately did not.

What made you pick up it in the first place? Were you looking forward to it or did it just pop up by chance?
The synopsis is intriguing and the cover just adds to it! I was definitely looking forward to this read. The synopsis made the book sound like something new and different. Something I hadn't read before. At least, in my experience it's never a whole town that's hiding a secret, but a few select individuals.Did you have certain expectations for the book before starting it? Have you read anything else by this author or in this genre?
I don't like going into a new book blind, I really don't. I always check the Goodreads ratings before starting. I don't read the reviews, but skim over star rating. Truth be told, The Dolls wasn't rating terribly high, but whatever. I wanted to read it, I was going to read it.

I have since gone back to read some of the negative reviews, and while there are something I agree to I don't agree to everything.

Was there anything you liked about the book? What ultimately made you stop reading after 53%?

I thought the beginning of The Dolls was engaging and held a good deal of mystery. After her mother's untimely death, Eveny and her Aunt Bea moved to New York and are just moving back to Carrefour. People remember Eveny, as she slowly begins to remember them, but there's also an air unrest. The town is cut off from the world, doesn't come up in internet searches, and is protected by a locked gate. It's creepy! I love creepy. I live for creepy.

I was intrigued. I was pulled in. What is so special about this town? Why is there such a strict divide between the rich part of town and the poor part of town? Why is everyone so intrigued the Eveny is back in town? Why are people brushing off an obvious murder by calling it a suicide? Why are the Dolls such entitled bitches?

I stopped reading because nothing was happening. I know books don't need to be all action all the time, but with The Dolls there was too much downtime. There was something missing. After the initial excitement and mysterious intrigue, the pacing slowed down.Would you still recommend it to anyone?

My answer to this is always yes. My word is not the end all be all when it comes to a good book or a bad book. That's for you to judge. Your tastes are different than mine and I can't tell you what you will enjoy, only my experiences.